EFFECTS OF AQUARIUM VIEWING BEHAVIORS ON CHILDREN'S MENTAL IMAGE OF WATER BODIES : CORRELATION ANALYSIS WITH THE MENTAL IMAGES REPRESENTED IN THE COLLAGE

Abstract

  Aquariums should play a role in learning about living animals, ecosystems, and the environment. Young children need to develop a mental image of water bodies such as oceans, rivers, and lakes as habitats for aquatic animals. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of young children's aquarium viewing behavior on their mental images of water bodies. Field observations and projective methods in an aquarium are used to examine the possibility that improving viewing behavior can reduce children's psychological distance from the water bodies and increase their interest in and understanding of them. The results suggest that psychological distance can be reduced by increasing the number of "pointing at the tank," an active viewing behavior toward aquatic animals and the water bodies. We assume that the more often they point to an object, the more they like it and feel familiar with it. The results also suggest that the increasing frequency of " touching the tank," a viewing behavior that enhances interaction with the surroundings, increases interest in them. We believe that young children's learning in aquariums can be enhanced by active and interactive viewing of aquatic animals, water bodies, and humans.